I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 14

At 5:30 in the afternoon, I arrived at the central supermarket in the commercial street.

I took the familiar elevator to the second floor and grabbed a small shopping cart at the entrance. With a cheerful pace, I headed straight to the supermarket’s household goods section.

For someone as ordinary as me, there is nothing more joyful than strolling through a supermarket at will.

Back when I was still a middle-aged man, I might have been a little concerned about preserving my dignity and tried to appear more refined. But now that I’ve become a little girl, I can freely express my happiness and let myself go.

The Grim Reaper I encountered earlier, although I found her somewhat familiar in terms of body type and walking posture, I cannot be absolutely sure if she’s the same Grim Reaper who transformed me into this little girl in the morning. Her face and body were obscured by black mist, and her voice was altered so that it was impossible to determine her gender. Aside from the fact that she resembled the death god from my memories, I’m genuinely unsure about her identity.

What is a Grim Reaper? What responsibilities do they have? How many Grim Reapers are there? Does Hell actually exist?

I don’t know any of this.

Of course, in my current state, I don’t have the capability to delve into these matters. From a young age, I’ve been taught that when people die, they simply cease to exist, and there is no heaven, no hell, no otherworldly dimensions, no M78 Nebula, no slimes that can devour giants, no skeletons with the power to single-handedly destroy nations. There are no outlandish storylines where I would undergo a classroom reincarnation and turn into a spider, quietly become a deity, or venture into the hills outside to encounter dragons and bring them home as maids.

The world, as I’ve known it… has always been indifferent.

But now, you suddenly tell me there are Grim Reapers in this world, and these Grim Reapers can have tantrums and turn your head into a cute little girl. What am I supposed to do about that?

Well, what can you do? Just go with the flow!

So far, I can confirm that my current little girl’s body, aside from being overly pretty and cute, can see Grim Reapers and things like the “souls” of the deceased. It’s essentially identical to an ordinary girl’s body.

My strength is quite limited, akin to that of a ten-year-old girl. I’ve almost stumbled while moving a table a few times. Walking a few hundred meters makes me feel tired, and my stomach capacity is small. A few bites of food and I’m full, and after a little activity for an hour or two, I get hungry.

According to the Miss Grim Reaper, I seem to have some sort of “immortality” attribute, but I don’t have the courage to test that.

Leaving aside the question of whether it hurts or not, my current body is very cute, and I genuinely don’t want to see her get hurt.

Come to think of it, neither the Miss Grim Reaper nor my current self seems to have a name.

My previous name was too masculine, and using that name is definitely not an option. Although so far, it seems I don’t really need a new name. After all, most of my social activities are online, and whether it’s a gaming group or a readers’ group, everyone is used to calling me “Uncle.” Moreover, over the internet, they can’t see my current appearance, so it doesn’t really matter how they address me.

As for real life… as long as I pretend to be my sister, that’s sufficient. Nowadays, everyone’s pace of life is fast, and no one has the time to chase after a little girl to ask her name unless they have some sinister ulterior motive.

“Today’s special… chewy autumn swordfish noodles, 3 bags for 10 yuan, welcome to taste…”

“Freshly peeled pineapple, 18.8 yuan per box, red-fleshed pineapple, special price of 20 yuan per box…”

Amid the announcements blaring from the overhead loudspeakers, I pushed a shopping cart much larger than I remembered to the supermarket’s household goods section and found the children’s underwear area.

Then, I found something that made me both laugh and cry.

I couldn’t reach the clothes.

Yes, the children’s underwear section was mixed in with the women’s underwear section in this part of the supermarket. The lower shelves held adult clothing, while the children’s tank tops were stacked above them. The height that would have been easily reachable for my previous self, with a slight reach of my hand, was now out of my reach for my current self.

I couldn’t reach it at all!

I moved the small cart aside and tried to stand on my tiptoes, extending my arm.

I still couldn’t reach.

I tried jumping a few times.

Still couldn’t reach.

Darn it, what were these people thinking? Children’s underwear is bought by children, right? Why put it up on shelves over two meters high?! My gaze landed on a small cart nearby.

Hmm… if I stand on it, then I should be able to reach the clothes on the top shelf, but doing so would carry the risk of falling.

I looked around the shelves.

This area was part of the household goods section. In front of me were women’s underwear, followed by men’s underwear, then racks of brooms, mops, scissors, transparent tape, toothpicks, and cleaning cloths. Further back were kitchen utensils, cutting boards, kitchen knives, seasoning containers, and the like. If I remembered correctly, there was also a tableware section near the kitchen utensils area, with many glass bowls and cups…

Like this, a specialized counter for underwear. If I accidentally bumped into it and knocked a few clothes down, it wouldn’t be a big deal. However, not far behind me were many glass products…

In my mind, I could already see countless gifs of domino-like glassware toppling to the ground due to my mishap. Stepping on the cart, I suddenly slipped, giving the small cart potential energy, and it accelerated out of the underwear section with a graceful drift, followed by an N2O nitrous boost, and it rocketed into the glassware section like a missile…

I’m not going to do that.

“…”

No, I absolutely cannot use this small cart to reach the clothes myself.

In this situation, as awkward as it might be, I had no choice but to find a supermarket staff member.

Slightly pouting in frustration, I pushed the cart and left the household goods section. After looking around, I approached two young ladies in supermarket uniforms who were tidying up shelves and chatting.

“Hello.”

As I got closer, I, with a feverish blush on my face, spoke to one of the staff members,

“I… I’d like to buy some clothes over there, but I can’t reach them.”

“Hello, little sister, you’re so adorable!”

The staff member who noticed me was instantly captivated and showed the kind of enthusiasm you might see from a shady salesperson selling health products to elderly people in wheelchairs by the entrance of an apartment complex.

“What clothes do you want to buy? You can’t reach them? Let this big sister help you take a look.”

The other staff member was also surprised and said,

“Is this kid not the cutest thing? Oh my gosh! Are you alone, little sister?”

“Over there…”

I pointed to the household goods and women’s clothing section not far away.

“Let this big sister take you.”

She waved her hand at her colleague with a sense of accomplishment. The staff member I had called over took the initiative to help me push the small cart.

“What’s your name, little sister?”

Um…

As for a name… how should I respond to that?

I couldn’t just make up a name on the spot like in Detective Conan, going to a corner, grabbing a random book, and blurting out something like “I’m Conan, the bald-headed Qiang delivering messages to Hei Xiaohu on the grassy plains,” could I?

“…”

Since I hadn’t thought of a name in that moment, I chose to remain silent.

“Did you come here alone? Are you helping your mom and dad shop?”

The staff member beside me didn’t seem to mind that I didn’t share my name and remained as enthusiastically helpful as before. She asked, “Shopping for clothes?”

“Uh… yes, clothes.”

I completely understood how this young lady felt. Work could be pretty boring, whether you were a salesperson, a service worker, or a programmer. Daily tasks often involved repetition, repetition, and more repetition.

Picture this: You’re a salesperson, and your daily task involves standing behind the counter, watching countless customers come and go. Then, one day, an incredibly cute little girl approaches you for help. Or perhaps you’re a programmer who has been coding in front of a computer for months, and a proactive little girl comes to ask you about your work. I believe anyone in those situations would be extra enthusiastic, wholeheartedly dedicating themselves to assisting that little girl.

Here, you could replace the little girl with an adorable kitten, and it would work just as well. You’d get to chat with a cute girl and enjoy some “paid leisure time.” Anyone would be delighted.

Darn it… why didn’t I have this treatment in my previous life?

“I want to buy that.”

Accompanied by the service staff member, I arrived at the women’s underwear section and pointed at the children’s underwear at the top. “The one on the far left, I want two of them.”

It was the cheapest option, at 12.8 yuan each. After buying clothes, shoes, and socks using a food delivery app, I had a little over a hundred yuan left in my bank account. I expected to spend around seventy to eighty yuan on underwear, socks, and fresh clothes in a bit, leaving me with thirty to forty yuan, which should last for about a week.

Even after signing a contract for the novel, you can’t immediately monetize it. All novel websites pay their fees once a month, and it’s based on the previous month’s earnings, which means that even if I sign the contract this month, I won’t get the money until the next month.

So, if my “rights protection” action tomorrow fails, I won’t be able to pay the rent, and even buying food would be a problem.

“Here.”

At my request, the service staff member quickly helped me get the two pieces of underwear and also checked the model and size for me.

“Suitable for children between 1.3 and 1.5 meters… Is this the right model?”

I nodded, “Yes.”

Even though I couldn’t reach it, my vision is still fine, and I can clearly see the clothing sizes indicated here.

“And then, over here.”

I took the clothes and put them in my small cart, and seeing that the service staff member still had a hopeful look on her face, I decided to take her to the underwears section.

“I’d like two… um, thank you.”

“……”